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Monday, April 4, 2011

Meet Kithy Fitts - 2011 Woman of Distinction

Kithy Fitts has served her community as both a professional and a volunteer, often simultaneously. Her efforts helped pioneer the startup of two of Tuscaloosa’s vital organizations: the Community Soup Bowl and the Children’s Hands-On Museum (CHOM). During the Soup Bowl’s early years, Fitts was responsible for overseeing the center’s operations, including preparing thousands of meals and coordinating volunteers. She has since served on the board for CHOM and continues to volunteer there.

Fitts’ professional experience includes social work at Bryce Hospital, a trial program through the City Board of Education to prevent school dropouts, UA’s Brewer-Porch residential treatment for delinquent teens and Hospice of West Alabama with terminally ill patients. Among her civic contributions, Fitts has volunteered with Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the Lazarus Ministry of Christ Episcopal Church, and served on the boards of WUAL public radio and the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra.

With a B.A. in English from Harvard University, Fitts obtained a master’s in social work at The University of Alabama after all four of her children were in school.

Fitts cites the most valuable lesson she learned from Girl Scouting, “Do not make assumptions about people. Let them be whoever they are, wherever they are.”